MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[funbballer]

Ah, the Highland Villager, where I graced the People section about three or four times in my life for various things like getting top journalist at Hamline award (doesn't say much) and hitting a walk-off home run against Humboldt (says even less). I do like Wright better than his predecesser (I can't spell it) Cody.

With a few others throwing out predictions, I will throw out my top 11 with no analysis.

1. SJU   2. UST   3. CAR   4. BET   5. HAM   6. STO   7. GAC   8. CON   9. SMU   10. AUG   11. MAC

PI....you still don't get it, do you? Koz continues at the helm for the Oles.....and you predict they'll finish that high?

I'm not smart enough to predict an exact order for 1-6, but I'll put GAC and CON in the mix for the top 6 teams qualifying for playoff action

Oles 6th?  Geez, come on, the Koz factor must enter into this equation somehow!!!

[miacwatchmen]

My predictions:

1) UST- To darn good with Ike and Schnettler. Plus if Keating plays as well as people say he can the Tommies may end up with only one or two losses in the MIAC.

2) SJU- Starting 5 seniors will be solid along with Brink off the bench. The Johnnies can match up inside and outside with anyone one in the league other than #1.

3) HAM- DeRock and Thrasher will lead the pipers back into the playoffs.

4) BET- New transfer Moberg could be the difference maker here. The Royals will have a solid team if he can produce in the middle.

5) GAC- Their coach is too good to have them miss the playoffs

6) CAR- Zach Johnson may be able to do it himself.....because thats all CAR has to hope for.

7) SMU- I'll give Trewick some love here. They played well early last year and I think they will catch alot of teams sleeping after the drive to Winona.

8 ) CON- I know very little about the Cobbers this year but I have faith    .....(I know I already said they will make the playoffs but I just don't see it now looking at the rest of the league.

9) STO- Koz factor in effect as FB already pointed out plus they just don't have the ponies to match up with the top teams in the league.

10) MAC- Conboy has done it all and will do it all again this year averaging 20+ points but it won't be enough. Maybe the new gym will help

11) AUG- The victory over UST last year was the lone highlight in their season....I don't see many highlights this year....as the Auggies remain in the cellar.

Playoffs-   HAM over CAR and GAC over BET     2nd round UST over GAC  followed by SJU over HAM (Avenging last years early exit)   Finals-  SJU over UST .....just for wishful thinking!!!!

[columbianmaffia]

My predictions:

6) CAR- Zach Johnson may be able to do it himself.....because thats all CAR has to hope for.

not that 6th place is out of the question but CAR's season doesnt rest only upon the shoulders of one player...if GOOSE NECK! plays like he did last year that would be as nice as a juice tripple burger but i would say their season depends more on Jake Phillips who could be the best PG in the MIAC this year...also i expect tommy drake to bounce out of his sophomore slump and give CAR more balance...Fork was a big loss but the season before they lost their a couple of their top scorers in Baquero and Beste and they seemed to do alright last year....Kalland will have them prepared to play together and be solid

closing in on 519...and thanksgiving GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE!!! turkey turkey turkey sitting on a rock still wearing his holloween costume disguised as a sock...you cant hide turkey you cant trick me turkey i will eat you turkey gobble gobble gobble

[miacwatchmen]

My predictions:

6) CAR- Zach Johnson may be able to do it himself.....because thats all CAR has to hope for.

not that 6th place is out of the question but CAR's season doesnt rest only upon the shoulders of one player...if GOOSE NECK! plays like he did last year that would be as nice as a juice tripple burger but i would say their season depends more on Jake Phillips who could be the best PG in the MIAC this year...also i expect tommy drake to bounce out of his sophomore slump and give CAR more balance...Fork was a big loss but the season before they lost their a couple of their top scorers in Baquero and Beste and they seemed to do alright last year....Kalland will have them prepared to play together and be solid

closing in on 519...and thanksgiving GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE!!! turkey turkey turkey sitting on a rock still wearing his holloween costume disguised as a sock...you cant hide turkey you cant trick me turkey i will eat you turkey gobble gobble gobble

So....are you saying the Knights will finish lower than 6th or higher?

[Drake Palmer]

And then there was one...

Out of the 3 remaining stragglers to post their rosters, the Royals, Cobbs Tommies, Bethel now stands alone- rosterless.  On average, I would wager that Bethel is consistently the last school in the conference to post rosters, sports previews and game results.

Being the semi –OCD type personality that I am (smirk) I actually listened to part of the abysmal football game between the Cobbs & Gusties last Saturday.  As luck would have it, the game announcers interviewed Coach Duane Siverson at the half, & he did mention a few of the newcomers that have joined the Cobbs this year. However, he did not mention Brian Lebsock, the FY PG from Montana that Sofa was quite high on.  Interestingly, along with the "big-name" returnees of Brock Citterman & Luke Linz, he did mention a couple of post players he thought might make an impact this season.  A Jr. transfer from San Diego, California 6-7 post/Center Erik Johnson & a 6-7 FY post with the unlikely name of James Baldwin from (Hope (?), ND of all places.  It will be interesting to see his photo to determine his ethnic background.  It would seem the players should be switched the other way around, with Johnson being from ND & Baldwin from CA.

Tommies have their roster posted & it appears that it's still somewhat in flux.  Half of the frosh are listed as members of the JV squad & the other half are listed on the varsity.  In years past, it seems the Tommies had at best 3 FY on the varsity roster.  Other than that I didn't see any major surprises with the possible exception of FY post, Sam Eicher from Eden Prairie.

It sure would be nice to hear from a Tommie or UST fan that's close to the team this year.  During the previously mentioned halftime interview with Siverson, he mentioned that he'd heard like some of the rest of us that UST's Mike Keating had hip surgery this spring, but was now having back problems or something to that effect.  Course on the other hand, if I'm a Tommie booster, I don't know if I would want to let the cat out of the bag if Keating was in fact injured.

Although he wasn't sure of Keating's' playing status, Siverson opined that without Sean Sweeney & possibly Mike Keating, the Tommies become an ordinary team.  I would tend to agree with that assessment.  However, Coach Siverson also thought Keating & Bryan Schnettler were D1 transfers, when in fact only Rosefelt was the DI transfer.

[Willy Wonka]

It sure would be nice to hear from a Tommie or UST fan that's close to the team this year.  During the previously mentioned halftime interview with Siverson, he mentioned that he'd heard like some of the rest of us that UST's Mike Keating had hip surgery this spring, but was now having back problems or something to that effect.  Course on the other hand, if I'm a Tommie booster, I don't know if I would want to let the cat out of the bag if Keating was in fact injured.

Although he wasn't sure of Keating's' playing status, Siverson opined that without Sean Sweeney & possibly Mike Keating, the Tommies become an ordinary team.  I would tend to agree with that assessment.  However, Coach Siverson also thought Keating & Bryan Schnettler were D1 transfers, when in fact only Rosefelt was the DI transfer.

Is this November 2005 or November 2006? Are the excuses as to why he won't dominate the league and be MVP starting already? 

[Drake Palmer]

Willy - Brotha James sez get ready for Round 2 of...

The Big PayBack 

[localcoach]

Drake - I thought I'd take another peak and sure enough the BU roster has finally been posted.  Only 1 freshman is listed.  Max Holmgren from New Life Academy.  If my memory serves me correctly he put up some pretty hefty numbers albeit for a ssmall private school last year.  Mr. Moberg is listed at 6-8, 245lbs., I thought he was more like 6-10 and about 265lbs??  Nothing else noteworthy on the Royals roster.

As for the Tommies, I can tell you that Sam Eicher from Eden Prairie H.S. is also going to play baseball for UST.  He's your typical undersized MIAC forward/post.  A good athlete with toughness but average skills.  They list him at 6-6, but trust me he's more like 6-4, unless he's grown two inches since April.  The freshman to watch on the Tommies is Teddy Archer from DeLaSalle.  He's a big time athlete who can really guard.

A little birdie also told me that Hamline looked really good in their scrimmage against Concordia-St. Paul the other day.   The word continues to be that the Pipers season will hinge upon senior Kyle Foster and whether or not he can stay out of foul trouble and under control.

[UST_LBOW]

Keating did in fact have hip surgery this summer. It is the same injury that has been bothering him for a few years.  He was on crutches for a long time, but maintained a good diet this summer and is coming in to this year a lot lighter than last year.  I can tell you that his hip is feeling very good and he's been looking outstanding in practice according to players I've talked to.  He worked hard this summer to rehab and if you were driving around the streets in St. Paul you may have been passed by a running Mike Keating.  He does not have any back problems, not sure where that rumor started.

UST scrimmages UW-Eau Claire this Friday in Eau Claire.  This will be a good exhibition for the Tommies, Eau Claire is usually very physical and UST will have to match that physicality.  I would expect the coaching staff to be very tough on the players, as this is probably a final tune up before their games in Cali.

[Gregory Sager]

A Jr. transfer from San Diego, California 6-7 post/Center Erik Johnson & a 6-7 FY post with the unlikely name of James Baldwin from (Hope (?), ND of all places.  It will be interesting to see his photo to determine his ethnic background.

Your wish is my command, sahib.

I hope that you can access PDF files on your computer. If so, Baldwin's picture is here:

http://www.ed.gov/programs/psp/2006/yearbook.pdf

Scroll down to page 14.

You're welcome. 

[shocker]

It sure would be nice to hear from a Tommie or UST fan that's close to the team this year.  During the previously mentioned halftime interview with Siverson, he mentioned that he'd heard like some of the rest of us that UST's Mike Keating had hip surgery this spring, but was now having back problems or something to that effect.  Course on the other hand, if I'm a Tommie booster, I don't know if I would want to let the cat out of the bag if Keating was in fact injured.

Although he wasn't sure of Keating's' playing status, Siverson opined that without Sean Sweeney & possibly Mike Keating, the Tommies become an ordinary team.  I would tend to agree with that assessment.  However, Coach Siverson also thought Keating & Bryan Schnettler were D1 transfers, when in fact only Rosefelt was the DI transfer.

Is this November 2005 or November 2006? Are the excuses as to why he won't dominate the league and be MVP starting already? 

Who cares about league MVP? Even Gilbert (the Elder) got one of those. That's small potatoes, baby. All-America, all the way. I'm on board. Who's with me?

[Drake Palmer]

A Jr. transfer from San Diego, California 6-7 post/Center Erik Johnson & a 6-7 FY post with the unlikely name of James Baldwin from (Hope (?), ND of all places.  It will be interesting to see his photo to determine his ethnic background.

Your wish is my command, sahib.

I hope that you can access PDF files on your computer. If so, Baldwin's picture is here:

http://www.ed.gov/programs/psp/2006/yearbook.pdf

Scroll down to page 14.

You're welcome. 

If the board will allow me one mild, annual digression into politics...in a politically schizophrenic state where the citizens rejected a "madman", elected a "madwoman", and was the first state in the country to elect a Muslim; Greg, your post was the perfect end to a Madcap election night! 

Gasp, mutter, sputter, how on earth did you come up with this priceless piece of trivia?!?  I can't believe you had a copy of the President's Scholars award lying around on your desk.  Your curiosity must have been piqued just as much mine to go digging around on Google for this. 

Plus karma to you sir, or should I say Guru of all Sahibs! To paraphrase old blue eyed soul man Van Morrison -  you are the "Guru, the method, the teacher." 

I still can't believe (yes I can) that his parents would name him this.  During my travels across the northern plains of Minnesota & the Dakotas, I've met other should we say, interestingly named individuals.  But still, for what appears to be a blond haired, blue eyed young man, IMO his name is the political, literary, sociological equivalent of the old Johnny Cash song- "A Boy named Sue."  I can't wait to read/hear the story about how/why his parents chose to name him thus.

I'm still chuckling over this whole string of events several hours later.  Good humor.

[Drake Palmer]

Local – Good pickup on the last MIAC roster.  I think I checked one last time before I left the shop around 5:30 or so yesterday & the Bethel roster still hadn't been posted.

A few thoughts on Bethel's roster.  Although FY Max Holmgren played at a small Class A private school,  New Life Academy, he can definitely play ball.   I saw him play over the course of several AAU seasons, & he and his running mate Rhett McDonald, (a fellow FY now on scholie at UMD) more than held their own against some of the state's top, D1 caliber AAU teams.

Whoever was holding the tape or scale for the Royals must have been having a bad day when they measured & weighed the players.  As far as I know, Mike Moberg has been 6-9 or 6-10 since his days at Maple Grove.  Also if you compare last year's roster to this year's roster you'll see a few "hmm I wonder where that came from?" type of stats.  For example - Andy Cook has shrunk from 6-10 to 6-9 (?) & added 25 lbs to hit 275; (he didn't move well at 250, what happens at 275?); string bean Peter Rolando went from 6-7 215 to a robust, 6-7 240 lbs. What kind of weight machines & compression devices do they use at Bethel?

On a positive note, it was encouraging to see Jr. Jeff Reck's name listed on the roster again.  He was a former POY in the St. Paul City Conference & All Stater who struggled academically the first couple of years.  Hopefully, his struggles are behind him & he can make a valuable contribution to the team this year & next.  If given time, Reck can definitely fill up the basket. 
________________________________________________________________

In my earlier post, the very reason I questioned the final status of the Tommies' roster is a result of Sam Eicher's name being listed on the varsity roster.  Aside from the fact he has a little left-handed (?) baby hook, I didn't see much in the way of a polished post player when I saw him play in high school last year.  Also, Teddy Archer might get some clock this year, but unless Jr. Lonnie Robinson has totally fallen out of favor with the coaches, I think Robinson is the Tommies' "Alex Weaver" type player this season.

Ok Willy, you heard it from Lbow, Keating's healthy.  (Bow - you better be right!)  And Bow, note I wasn't the one saying that Keating had a bad back.  The Cobbs' Siverson was simply speculating on comments that he had heard from others in the coaching community & he wasn't sure if his recovering, or still injured body part was hip or back.  As for me, I've seen Keating play a number of times over the years.  I'll have to see him play once or twice & if he's got the spring back in his stride, look out.  Then it will be time to bring the old quote machine out of the closet & polish up a few nuggets.

[Nites]

If the board will allow me one mild, annual digression into politics...in a politically schizophrenic state where the citizens rejected a "madman", elected a "madwoman", and was the first state in the country to elect a Muslim; Greg, your post was the perfect end to a Madcap election night! 

I think I'll give the nod to South Dakota politics:

Dead woman wins county commissioner's race
S.D. candidate gets 100 votes; official says voters knew she was deceased

PIERRE, S.D. - A woman who died two months ago won a county commissioner's race in Jerauld County on Tuesday.

Democrat Marie Steichen, of Woonsocket, got 100 votes, defeating incumbent Republican Merlin Feistner, of Woonsocket, who had 64 votes.

Jerauld County Auditor Cindy Peterson said she believes the county board will have to meet to appoint a replacement for Steichen. Peterson said she'll check with the state's attorney to be sure that's the process.

Peterson said voters knew Steichen had died.

"They just had a chance to make a change, and we respect their opinion."

[sumander]

CORD roster has been posted here:

http://www.cord.edu/dept/sports/winter/mbb/0607roster.php

Doesn't appear to be too much different that what Drake had alluded to earlier.